Abductions in the American Revolution

Independent historian Christian McBurney has written books on the efforts to capture Generals Charles Lee and Richard Prescott and on the Rhode Island Campaign in the Revolutionary War. He lives in Kensington, Maryland.

Table of Contents


Acknowledgments

Preface

I. The Fighting Begins (April 1775 to June 1776)

From Lexington and Concord to Mount Vernon

Was There a Plot to Kidnap King George III?

The Tory Plot to Kidnap Washington in New York City

II. The Fall of New York City and New Jersey (July 1776 to March 1778)

Signers of the Declaration of Independence

John Fell in the Provost

The Capture of Major General Charles Lee

Richard Witham Stockton, the Land Pilot

The Retaliatory Capture of Major General Richard Prescott

George Washington Supports Kidnapping Attempt Against British Headquarters in New York City

III. The Fall of Philadelphia (September 1777 to April 1778)

Delaware’s Chief Executive Is Abducted from His House

Congress Responds to Tory Kidnappings

John Paul Jones Strikes Fear in Great Britain

IV. The War in the North (January 1778 to February 1781)

Multiple Attempts to Kidnap Governor William Livingston of New Jersey

Retaliatory Kidnappings: The Cases of Connecticut’s General Silliman and Long Island’s Judge Jones

Raid Across the Frozen Hudson River: The Attempt to Kidnap Washington at Morristown

Washington Attempts to Kidnap the Traitor Benedict Arnold in New York City

Washington’s Second Attempt Against the British Commander-in-Chief in New York City

The Abduction and Dramatic Escape of General Peleg Wadsworth in Maine

V. The War in the South (January 1781 to August 1781)

“This greatest of all traitors”: Attempts to Kidnap Arnold in Virginia

Banastre Tarleton Almost Bags Thomas Jefferson

When the Kidnapper Becomes the Hunted: The Case of Benjamin Cleveland

The Execution of Isaac Hayne

VI. British Secret Service Operations in Upstate New York and Vermont (July 1781 to June 1782)

The British Attempt to Capture Major General Philip Schuyler at Albany

The Great Kidnap Caper of 1781 Falls Apart

Thomas Johnson: British Agent or Double Agent?

VII. Yorktown and Beyond (September 1781 to September 1783)

David Fanning Captures North Carolina’s Governor

Murder in North Carolina and Georgia

Washington Plans to Abduct a Future King of Great Britain from New York City

Living with the Risk of Kidnappings

Appendix A: Letter from Colonel James Abeel Summarizing

Information Regarding the Raid Intended to Capture Washington in February 1780

Appendix B: Colonel Matthias Ogden’s Plans for Capturing Prince William Henry in New York City in March 1782

Chapter Notes

Bibliography

Index